My heart pounded as we crossed the hushed room towards the heavy doors of the inner war room. People were watching us but I didn’t really recognise many of them. Even Orion wasn’t at his normal desk, he was nowhere to be seen.

I think they knew what we were about to do and were worried. Or maybe excited.

The door swung open and my fingers tightened around Cas’.

Inside, a hasty partition had been erected and the table had been dragged closer to the door to make space for it. Andy, Elliot and Aquila all looked up as we entered but Orion, who sat typing on a screen at the desk, took a little longer to notice. Once he had, a wide smile appeared on his face and his hands waved in an elaborate salute.

“There you are,” Andy say, his smile welcoming and supportive. “Orion, do you want to explain the set-up?”

“Sure,” he said, almost tripping in his hasty to get up.

He raced towards the strange metal box and gestured for us to follow.

We did, my hands feeling damp from nerves.

“So, this is for you to sit in whilst you talk. It’s been designed to make sure that the lighting and sound are perfect. It was actually adapted from one that was created ages ago, mostly by Tuc because he had the most experience in front of the camera so he knew what people wanted,” Orion explained.

I stared at the almost overwhelmingly bright box. It was closed on all sides apart from the front. A single comfy looking chair sat in it and a camBot waited to be activated on a low table next to the open front.

“So, we’ve taken the front off so that it feels a little bit less scary and so that we can put all the information, medical reports and photos and everything up on the screen so that you can react to them and explain them. Obviously, if you don’t remember or don’t want to talk about any of them you can just say and we’ll move on,” he continued.

Cas nodded tightly but didn’t say anything.

“Basically, you can take your time and say what you want to say and then it’ll be edited together and prepared after,” Peggy added with a smile.

Cas swallowed before speaking.

“Will I get to see it after it’s edited? Like, before it goes out?” he asked.

“Of course,” Aquila said from behind us. “This is completely your story and we want it to be done the way you want it to. So, if you aren’t happy with the editing or you want us to change something or add something, we’ll do that.”

Cas nodded again, his jaw clenched tightly.

“So, I just sit in there and start talking? What about my notes?”

“Oh, if you give me the screen I can put them up on the right side and then the pictures and everything will go on the other side,” Orion offered, holding his hand out for the screen that Cas was clutching.

He handed it over, his movements deliberate and forced.

I could see how stressed and anxious he was but I couldn’t think of anything I could do to help.

“Okay, is there anything I need to do before we start?” he asked.

“That’s it. You can just go take a seat and we’ll sort everything out from out here,” Orion said with an excited grin.

“Cas,” Andy said, causing us to turn back towards him. “Would you rather we leave the room? I am aware of how difficult this may be so I want to make sure that only the people you’re comfortable with are in here with you.”

I glanced back towards Cas, waiting for him to answer.

I honestly wasn’t sure what he was going to say. I knew that when he was dealing with something emotional, he struggled to share it with people.

He hesitated, his eyes flitting around the room before he sighed silently.

“No, it’s okay. You’re all going to hear to sooner or later,” he said with a quick smile that betrayed his anxiety. “I’ll go get seated in there, I guess.”

I followed him into the booth, not quite ready to let go of his hand just yet.

“Cas,” I said quietly, not sure how to put what I was thinking into words.

I knew what we were about to hear would be bad. I didn’t know how bad but I knew it would be difficult for everyone.

He turned back towards me, his lips rising in a half-smile.

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” I asked finally. “I really don’t mind going first. Or, Andy can?”

Cas shook his head and brought our entwined hand to his lips, gently kissing my fingers.

“I’m okay, I can do this.”

I looked deep into his eyes, expecting to see some flicker of doubt or fear but there was nothing but conviction.

“If you want to stop or anything at any point, just say, okay?”

He nodded and stepped back, finally letting go of my hand.

“Time to expose the Council, I guess?” he said with a wry smile as he sunk into the chair.

“Make him regret everything,” I replied.

“You know I will.”

A real smile crept over my face as the urge to kiss him grew within me.

I glanced around. Orion was fiddling with the camBot, pointedly not looking at us and everyone else was blocked from view by the walls of the booth.

I stepped forwards, leaning down and pressing my lips against his.

I pulled back before either of us could react, feeling nervousness flutter in my stomach.

“Good luck,” I said quickly and Cas’ lips rose into a true smile.

“Thank you.”

I bit my lip, trying to control the blush that spread over my cheeks, and walked towards Orion who was still fiddling with the camBot.

“All ready?” I asked him.

“Oh yeah, just need to activate it.” He poked a single button on top of the machine. “There we go.”

I suppressed a laugh as my cheeks flared an even deeper red.

He had clearly been just pretending to have to fiddle with the Bot to give us some privacy and I appreciated it.

“Okay, Cas, try to ignore the Bot. It’s going to fly around and make sure that you’re always looking good. There’s another camera in the screen, this Bot is mostly to just make sure that we get good enough sound and maybe some other angles if needed,” Orion said with a smile, giving him a thumbs up.

Cas smiled kindly at him.

“We should go sit down,” Orion told me quietly.

“Oh, yeah, of course. We’ll be just over there if you need anything,” I said to Cas.

Seriously though, if you do want to stop or take a break or change the subject or anything, just say, I added.

Thank you, he thought as I sat at the table, anxiety bubbling within me. I love you.

I swallowed, a little shocked by the unexpected words.

He’d said it to me before, of course, but that was back when we were certain we were going to die. I don’t think he’d said it to me since. I knew that he loved me but it felt so much more… significant now.

My stomach fluttered.

I love you too.

Peggy turned towards me, her face alight and her mouth opened to say something but I shook my head quickly.

It wasn’t the right time.

“Okay, Cas. Can you see your notes on the screen?” Orion asked, checking Cas’ image on the screen before him. “Or would you be more comfortable with a promptBot?”

“I can see,” Cas said.

I looked aware from Peggy, my eyes landing on the words Cas had written last night and a laugh bubbled out of my mouth.

The first line simply read ‘Fuck you, dad’.

“Just say what you need to say,” Andy said, an undercurrent of laughter in his voice. “We can always edit out some of the more personal attacks later.”

“Right,” Cas said, a smirk evident in his voice. “I’m sorry, I did try to keep it a little more… detached.”

“It’s fine. We don’t want something completely detached and clinical. What we’re looking for is your story but we want it to be something personal and emotive so that people identify with it,” Andy said gently.

I heard Cas take a deep breath.

“Okay, whenever you’re ready, you can start,” Elliot said, glancing at his screen.

There was a pause and my chest squeezed with worry but, just as I was about to ask Cas if he was alright, he spoke.

“How should I start this?” he asked with an uncertain laugh. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”

“Just introduce yourself,” Andy said gently.

“Okay, yeah. I can do that,” Cas said before pausing again. “I’m Cas. I used to be called Adam before I joined the Space Corps to get away from my father, Councillor Harvey.”